Hey guys. I just saw this thread and tried to view the “BWR Waffle Final Course” and it is private. Did anyone happen to download or save the course that they could share?? I’m riding in it and would love some insight. Thanks!!
It looks like they are set to public again, but in case its changed to private again I saved copies to my profile:
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Thanks!!!
I had a bunch of teammates doing this, so I just signed up. Now that I’m in, they will probably cancel it tomorrow…
Anyway, I’ve done road racing (no stops) and some gravel racing (60-100 milers) and wondering how fueling/hydration strategy for BWR differs since it’s really a hybrid road/gravel thing. Is it best to max out hydration with a hydration pack to avoid losing the pack at support stops or do groups generally make some stops?
According to the email they sent out today they aren’t expecting there to be many pacts of riders. They are staggering start times and expect groups out on the road to be less than 10 with how hard the terrain is.
Check Source Endurance (even tho they sell hydration stuff)
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This sounds like it’s going to be so awesome.
I decided not to go.
Their plan for mitigating the risk sounds pretty reasonable. If I lived nearby I might still attend. But between flying, the event itself, and the fact that I have a public-facing job, I just couldn’t quite convince myself that this rose to the level of being worth the possibility of becoming a disease vector between different communities.
I don’t have any problem with those who are choosing to go. Do your thing. I’m just sad to miss it, and venting a bit. I’m still doing my Specialty plan and I’ll probably still do some mega-ride that day so I have something to be proud of. I deferred my entry to next year, and I’ll keep banging away at the workouts, trying to get a watt here, lose a pound there, so when the time does come to meet on the race course again, I can enjoy my abilities just as much as I enjoy the fellowship with all of you.
Damn the virus. Take care of yourselves and each other out there. And if you’re going to Cedar City, give us a bunch of photos, let us know how it went, share your inspiration and your achievement. Godspeed.
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Good for you…
Word.
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My first reaction was whaaat? Then I thought about flying and admit I will not get on an airplane any more. In fact we drove coast to coast at the beginning of the lockdowns to re-home a doggie rather than fly. So I/we wish you well and maybe see you at BWR San Diego now rescheduled for May 2021.
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Totally get it and understand the FOMO. It’s driving distance for me and I’ll probably still go. I just did a cycling event in Utah and the organizers did a great job of mitigating risk. Sounds like BWR plans to have similar protocols. I’m worried about weather tho…I’m a cold weather weeny.
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Agree with the flying concerns. I thought about it, but decided to drive from Austin which is 19+ hours. Probably still statistically safer to fly even w the COVID risk, but just figure it’s better for everyone to avoid Indoor crowds where possible.
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Did you see the report about the Delta (?) flight across the Pacific at the start of the pandemic? Something like 12 of 16 passengers in Business got infected on the flight because they was one infected person up there with them.
I’d drive too at this point,
@Ed_Hall @grwoolf Can you post the data you’re looking at concerning flying? I’m a crew member for a US airline and have been getting very different data regarding crew member infection rates which if anything we are the “canary in the coal mine”. If there is some other data out there I want to read it and pass it on and/or just better educate myself. Best regards!!!
A ton of recognizable names are coming out to ride this. A few that I have seen: Peter Stetina, TJ Eisenhart, some of the Legion team, Dylan Johnson and the Vegan Cyclist. I’m sure there is more names out there those are just the ones I have seen have said they are coming.
No data. Just my personal preference. Used to work east coast live west and was always getting colds and flu which I attribute to flying since there seemed to be a correlation. I now have the luxury of not flying.
I don’t have any data on flying, just everything I’ve read suggest the most likely way to spread covid is enclosed spaces with poor ventilation and the duration of exposure is a significant factor. I don’t know that an airplane is any worse than any other enclosed space, but sitting next to a bunch of people for hours is certainly going to increase the risk of spread compared to driving.
That said, a story about a bunch of people on an airplane spreading covid is probably going to make the national news. Nobody is reporting on 15k+ car accidents every day in the US. As a statistics guy, I’d guess that driving to the airport is still higher risk of serious injury/illness compared to getting on a plane unless you are in a high risk category for complications from covid. It would take a lot of assumptions to compare the actual risk of each, I’m sure you could make it swing either way with the right assumptions.
I’d get on an airplane right now if I really needed to, but I’ve got the option to drive and it just seems like the right option for me.
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Regarding airlines and flying, Lufthansa getting out in front of the problem…
Arrived in cedar city yesterday and pre-rode the first ~14 miles and last ~25, including the Kamarra Mtn climb and single track section. On fresh legs and taking it really easy, the climb was a non-event on 1:1 gearing. Just a couple short spots you need to power up.
Single track wasn’t bad either if you are going slow and easy, but a good technical rider could really make up a lot of time here if they want to take some risks. Lots of rocks that could slash tires if you are pushing the pace and some of them are in spotty shade that makes them hard to pick up. The climb and single track will certainly be tough at mile 100+, but it’s not stupid hard or dangerous.
EDIT***: We had a bad course loaded and missed the hardest part of the climb, which is really the only hard part. Got a chance to ride it today and it’s pretty tough even with 1:1 gearing with fresh legs. I’m still going to stick with what I have, but it’s gonna be pretty brutal 100+ miles in. Even if I need to walk a little during the race, I don’t think it’s worth switching to my MTB gearing just for this one short section. ****
The early gravel section will be fast and selective with a couple pitches and a long drag at 2-3% uphill. I still don’t understand if everyone is starting together or if they are sending the staging pods off with gaps. The race will be broken up pretty early either way, but I’m just hoping i’m not stuck starting way back. Happy to be racing either way.
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I heard they are sending off 50 at a time. Not to sure on timing chips and waves, but that is what the Race bible mentioned. Thanks for the quick review. Hopefully my tires will survive!
They are staging groups of <50 prior to start, then it’s neutral rollout for ~4miles with masks on until they cut us loose.
It’s not clear to me how that first 4 miles is going to work. Unless they have a bunch of different lead vehicles controlling each individual pod, I can’t see how they will manage to keep separation for 4 miles. My hope is that they will just keep us in pods pre-start and then let us basically start together as we pull off the masks. It will get ripped apart pretty quick with a couple kickers.
We pre-rode another section today, including the first KOM and KOD segments. The climb was pretty tame and non-technical. I’m actually more worried about the downhill sections I’ve seen so far. They aren’t that technical either, but they are long and have enough grade that you can go as fast as you want. It’s gravel, dirt, and a little sand with some turns, so bad things can happen. I expect there will be people descending at under 15mph and other people going 30+. In Texas, the descents are so short that taking chances downhill doesn’t make much sense. On these long descents, you could gain huge chunks of time if you let it fly. I’m planning to play it pretty safe.